Supreme: Part 1, To Sparkle is To Perish

Amaryllis looks out the window of her study, focused on the road lying ahead. The door slams shut as her sister, Dexie walks into the room and takes a seat in the only other chair in the room. 

"Sister, what is it?"

Dexie slips into the chair and smiles over at her older sister. 

"Amaryllis, I'm worried about Cece, and you. I'm worried something's wrong." 

"I promise my sister, everything in this coven is managing splendidly and will continue that way for as long as I am the Supreme." She smiles, standing up from the chair. 

Dexie follows her, standing up from the slumping hanging chair. 

"I'm so glad my own sister is ruling over the witches. You'd make mother so proud." 

"I'm aiming to make you and Cece proud. I want to do a much better job at this, you know that. And in order to do that, everything has to be fine. Just fine."

Amaryllis walks towards the door and turns back to notice Dexie has moved towards the desk. 

"Sis, you're making a difference. I just wish our coven wasn't only three sisters. Witches are a dying breed."

"You're right. Witches will be dead if we can't help them sooner." Amaryllis steps out the door. 

...

Cece walks through the bare gym space towards the backyard, tying her hair into a neat braid as she steps into the cool air. 

"Perfect." She says, teleporting herself to the roof of the first floor. 

The cool wind blows around as she speaks, poofing her wand in thin air. 

"Magic, such a refined art." She mumbles a spell under her breath, dust and smoke pouring out. 

She whispers a spell under her breath once more, sparkling green dust pouring again from her wand. 

She continues enchanting her wand with the magic from her breath. 

"Hello, Cece. Isn't it such a beautiful day?" 

A woman teleports onto the roof, sparks flying in a hiss of light. 

"Darling, why practice your magic up here? You're so much better than this."

She steps towards Cece, staring into her eyes. 

"Frieda. Nice to see you again. How's the afterlife treating you, darling?"

Cece slides her wand back into her pocket. 

"Dear, I'm not dead. Just because I lost the Seven Wonders, do not mean I cannot live my life in peace." 

She conjures an apple in her palm. 

"This apple represents any witch's life. A witch is conjured by the magic of another witch. With that witch's guidance, the apple-or witch- grows to its full potential. But with that guidance come the responsibility. Within one bite, the apple is finished. Within one shot, a witch can be dead. The Seven Wonders are that shot. You get one chance to prove your worth before you fall into the arms of hell. Dear, we are all a dying breed. The coven is falling."  

"You want to tell me something new, Frieda? Gretel doomed it from her first day as Supreme, you know that. My sister can't come into this."  

She bears her teeth. Her eyes shoot open. 

"Oh, I know about Gretel Wolff alright. She was a nightmare. The only reason she became Supreme was because none of the others could beat her. They all died, and who knows, she must've had something to do with both of their deaths. It's not normal for them to disappear in such vulgar ways." 

Frieda steps towards Cece even more, her heels clicking against the rooftop. 

"Frieda, how are you...alive? You never surfaced from hell." 

"Neither did you, my dear, but we had our ways. Your sister, the new supreme, may have brought you back as part of the Seven Wonders, but I was brought back as well, dearie. I'd rather not mention by whom."

Cece pulled her wand from her pocket, snickering. 

"I don't believe you, and I refuse to allow a foul beast ruin my sister's new life."

She laughs, smiling hysterically. 

"You really think someone would conjure me up? Not even any one of those vowing for Supreme had the guts to resurrect me, let alone create a monster. Darling, I'm alive."

She casts a removal spell on Frieda, but it fails horribly. 

"Shit. You're here, right now, huh?" 

"Dear, would I lie to one of my old friends? Seriously, darling, the Seven Wonders changed us too much."

She pulled a protection spell from under her teeth. 

"No one would bring you back. You were the enemy." 

"And that's where you're wrong!" 

She whips her wand from her pocket, aiming a spell towards her old friend. 

"Darling, I'm not the enemy. Someone else is." 

A rush of sparks flies as the two battle it out in a whisk of magic. 

"Cece, listen to me. Let me talk to your sister. The coven is under attack, and we're here fighting on the roof of the local gym. Can't you see how ignorant this is?" 

She steps backwards as a spell hits her body. She flares with anger. 

"Frieda, prove your worth to me once more. We were friends once, make me believe it was real. Then you can speak to the supreme." 

Cece grins, sliding her wand back into the pocket of her skirt.

"Fine. I need to speak to Amaryllis before anyone else does. Magic is no longer protected." 

"Whatever you say, Frieda."

They teleport off the roof, landing gently beside the door to inside. 

...

Amaryllis leans down, scooping a critter into her palm. 

"Perfect for a spell. Such a foul species, perfect for a cure for death." 

The critter bites her skin, fleeing her grasp back onto the hard dried up ground. 

"Foul beast. Jesus."

She stands up, staring into the distance. 

"Hello, Amaryllis. Beautiful day outside, perfect for a storm."

Her body chills. She snaps her eyes onto the nearest tree, anger taking over her dark green pupils. 

"You're dead. You can't speak to me, that's not my power." 

She turns around, almost falling back in fear.

"Hello, Amaryllis. It's nice to see you."

She stares into the other woman's eyes, upset but hiding it behind closed doors. 

"Gretel Wolff. The dead supreme. A pleasure to see your rotting body."

Gretel smiles, snickering under her breath. 

"My dear, my dear. You don't seem to remember who my daughter is, do you?"

Amaryllis frowns. She pulls a strand of hair out of her face. 

"The infamous Poppy Wolff. Of course." 

"Well done, darling-" 

Amaryllis stares into the old supreme's eyes.

"Just because you're alive again, does not mean you can be the supreme again. I won fair and square, darling." 

The sun set against the horizon as Amaryllis began towards her office inside. 

"Goodnight, Gretel." 

"Amaryllis, where do you think you are going? I will not let you lead this coven without a fight." 

"Gretel, you're dead. You can't fight me." She steps backwards.

"Listen to me, dear."

"I said goodnight, Gretel." 

Amaryllis walks away, gliding through the open glass doors. 

"Well, dear, I didn't. Not yet." 

...

A young girl teleports outside a building, her blonde hair falling beside her eyes. 

"Mother, I will bring them to you." 

She looks over the street, her head tilting. 

"If only they would show themselves." 

She walks inside the building, her dark black and white clothes on her shoulders, her lips heavily coated with lip gloss. She puckers up, smiling. 

"My darlings, I won't bite...Maybe just a little."

She walked towards the mirror, staring at her complexion. 

She waved her hands over the wall, the wall disappearing from her view.  

"Ah, perfect." 

Cece continued to yell at Frieda, suddenly shocked once more by her presence. 

"If you refuse to give me knowledge on who resurrected you, I will refuse your access to my home."  

"I told you, you will be safer without that knowledge. I don't want you to have any partake in my life anymore." 

"Frieda, I'm your friend! Don't you trust me?" Her anger continued to boil under her eyes. 

"Cece, listen to me. I know what's best, and that's if you stay away from my resurrection. Don't even think about it." 

Frieda reached into her pocket, ready to pull a memory spell. 

"No, no, I can't let that happen." The girl steps into the darkness, her lips pursed. 

"Hello Cece. Frieda." She snickers on their names, upset. 

"Poppy Wolff. Of course she'd be here. That little rat." 

Frieda laughs, her eyes gleaming in hate and anger. 

"I want to punch you right now. Thanks for resurrecting me, brat." 

"Thanks for guaranteeing my supreme ship, Frieda. You didn't me to resurrect you anyway." 

"What the hell does that mean? Yes, I didn't want you to win, but I did want to be alive. You left my body to rot" 

"Well, I'm glad it isn't. I need the two of you. You don't want to upset a poor girl, do you?" 

The two snicker, staring into her eyes with passionate hate. 

"You should have died first."

...

Amaryllis steps up the staircase, staring to her left. 

"Pleasant to see Gretel alive." 

She walks towards her office, a grin taking over her face. 

But the grin fades as she steps through the door, an unwelcome figure slumped in the hanging chair by the window.

"How the hell-" 

"Amaryllis, let me explain." Frieda smiles, climbing out of her chair. 

Amaryllis takes a seat behind her desk, staring out the great window ahead of her. 

"Frieda, you died. I wanted to help, but I couldn't. You couldn't escape hell."

"That is true, my darling friend, but someone brought me back. I visited your dear sister Cece, but I was interrupted. Amaryllis, we're under attack." 

Frieda crossed the room to the empty cupboards. 

"I know, I am the supreme. Gretel is alive, my dear." 

Amaryllis looks out the window, her eyes focused on the winding road. 

"Oh dear, her daughter. Poppy.  She resurrected her mother."

Frieda steps back towards the table. 

"We need not worry. I will protect this coven, and if they dare try to destroy what I have created, they will see their own deaths play out one after the other." 

"Then we need to work together. I may have died but I'm still a witch on your side. Trust in me, Amaryllis, and we can stop this war. I can see you are the supreme we need. I was wrong to push my limits." Frieda places her hands on the desk, smiling. 

"It's nice to have you back, Fri. I missed you, truly." 

"We can save the drama for when the war begins, truly. For now, help me find someone." 

"I'll find someone else. The master of this all. I'll call him for you." 

Amaryllis stands up, moving towards her phone. 

"Thank you, dear friend. For tonight, I will be staying in your presence. Ask him to meet me at midnight."

"Of course, Frieda."

...

Midnight strikes, the lights flickering out hours before. Frieda lies on the couch, her eyes shut underneath the dark of the night. 

She sleeps in the dark, waiting for his signal. 

"Frieda, I have been summoned." His figure appears by the door, his eyes glowing in the moonlight. 

Frieda yawns awake, sliding her glasses over her eyes. 

"Hello, Thomas." She snickers, then smiles hastily. 

"Hello again, Frieda." 

He bares his sharp teeth, his golden eyes glowing brighter than before. 

Suddenly, under the light of the moon, he transforms back into his human form, blue light taking over the dimly lit darkness of the outside world. 

"Much better." Thomas smiles as the door to the house slides open, the cool air rushing in, a tidal wave towards the beach of a tropical island. 

"Who did you want me to find, dear?"

"I will tell you in near time."

"Let's take this somewhere else. I need to talk to you alone."

Frieda whisks the two of them out of the house, the glass door slamming into the wall with a crash. 

...

Frieda and Thomas teleport to the middle of the dark, the cold ruthless wind whipping against their skin. 

"Frieda, explain why you called on me. I know you were brought back from the after world." 

"Hear me out, darling."

"Get on with it. I hate dealing with witches." He frowns, sniffing at the moonlight air. 

"Thomas, you need to find a girl. Bring her to me, I will pay you heavenly." 

Frieda pulls her wand from her pocket, mumbling a spell under her breath. 

"A simple locator spell. You know her scent, find her."

"What the hell-"

His body aches in the darkness, his skin burning up against the piercing magic. 

"I will obey, master Frieda." He snaps to a growl, staring into the eyes of the night. 

"Just mixed it with a simple mastery potion. You'll only want to do right to the fellow witches, you unimportant brat." 

Frieda moves just behind the werewolf, smiling. 

"Bring me what I want and I will give you what you want." 

Thomas frowns, broken by chains holding him down. 

"And you know what that is?"

Frieda clears her throat. 

"Just to be free. Your mind refuses to accept your body..."

...

Amaryllis steps out onto the rooftop, staring out across the dark brown dirt surrounding the property. 

"I won't let that old woman get the best of me."

She casts a protection spell over the house, mumbling inaudible words from a different language. 

"May that witch never step foot inside this house. Again."

She continues with the spell, a grin spreading across her face. 

She finishes the spell, but something up above shocks her completely. 

"What the hell. That can't be right."

....

"My sisters, I gathered you here this morning for an important discussion. The stars aligned last night and told me of something rather startling...The gods suspect I shall fall."

Her sisters gasp, shifting their focus. 

"Sister, we know you're the perfect supreme. No one will bring you down. No one." Cece ponders by the casing, brushing the brown hair out of her face. 

"Amaryllis, we're your council for one simple reason; you can trust us. The only people I shall see falling is that wretched Gretel and her morbid daughter." Dexie combs her light white locks away from her face as she smiles towards her sister, confident and her usual self, a clairvoyant. 

"I hope you two are correct." 

Outside, a loud crash awakens the sisters from their conversation, startling them to teleport to the outside of the house.

"What the hell-" Amaryllis stares towards the crash site, her mind wincing in pain. 

"Hello, Amaryllis, Cece, Dexie." Poppy stands tall on a pale white box, her hair parted against her face. 

"Jesus, the Wolff clan just will not give up, huh?" She snickers in horror, her eyes closing in on her target. 

"We will not give up because we know we deserve better." 

She pulls her wand out of thin air, casting a simple banishment spell. Nothing happens.

"Drat. God dammit."

"Ha-ha, you simple fool. I am the supreme, you do realize that. I won't let a sly fox try and take me down." Amaryllis laughs as Poppy tries to redeem herself from the failure. 

"No, you will obey me and my mother."

"Your mother and you will no longer step foot in my home. Goodbye."

She casts a sleeping spell on the blonde girl, her body falling to the floor. 

"We call upon you, Gretel. We let your daughter fall and we wish to speak to you." 

Poppy's lifeless body curled into a ball on the floor. 

Gretel appears on the lawn beside her daughter's body. 

"You killed her? You cruel beings!" 

She kneels onto the ground, holding her daughter close to her body. 

"You murderers! How could you kill an innocent?" 

"We did not kill her, but you will. Take your life and hers away from us and you will be safe. Let me remind you were dead. I can always make sure you have a lovely grave once more, right beside your lovely daughter."  

Amaryllis steps forward, reaching down to give Gretel a hand. 

From behind a bush, Frieda appeared, sneaking against the harsh dirt to beside a rock. With a flash, she warped the two younger sisters to the rooftop. 

"Stay away from this."

"Shit, she's good."

"Might as well just watch from up here." 

Amaryllis stares into Gretel's aged eyes, her memories of the past supreme sinking in her lingering eyes.

"Take your sick minded child and leave this coven. No witch is welcome if she threatens another witch."

"You are threatening me. I will not tolerate any threats! I am the supreme-"

Gretel flares in rage, but Amaryllis only blinks it off. 

"You were the supreme. And you were a fellow witch, but I must banish you from our coven. Gretel Wolff, you are no longer a sister witch of ours, and neither is your daughter."

Amaryllis turns and begins her ascent to her office, never looking back at the fallen witches she banished that very moment. 

Frieda watched from beside the rock, her eyes focused on Gretel. But all Gretel did was stare, and let a single tear fall across her face. 

...

Amaryllis entered her office, a small hesitant smile on her face. She couldn't decide if what she did was entirely right, but she knew some of it had to be. 

"Amaryllis, we need to talk." Frieda appeared in the room, standing beside the window.

Outside the door, the two younger sisters teleported themselves back inside. 

"Sister, no." Dexie reached her hand out to her sister's shoulder, but she brushed it off. 

Putting her ear to the door, she listened in. 

Amaryllis walked further into the room. 

"I know. I know you witnessed that terrible scene and I wanted to talk to you too. You tracked your bait, right?"

Amaryllis closed in beside her, staring out the window. 

"Don't worry about that right now. We need to worry about Gretel. No supreme can be brought back. If something like this happens, someone had to die in her name-"

"You're saying someone died to give her life?"

"Entirely. Poppy killed someone to resurrect her own mother. No one can be trusted."

Frieda continues to stare out the window, petrified.